An alternative to needles is here

Speak to any woman with luminous skin who doesn't look her age and she'll tell you she's suffered for it. While Botox remains the most popular anti-aging procedure in Australia, other methods of achieving younger-looking skin, such as microdermabrasion, micro-needling, chemical and laser peels, aren't far behind.

The problem, of course, is the pain factor. If you have to trick your skin into producing more collagen in order to plump it up, you have to wound your skin - there is no other way around it.

Whether this is done by burning, needling or exfoliating, the outer most layer of the skin has to go. And, depending on what sort of pain-threshold you have, that usually hurts. Extra collagen means plumper, newer-looking, skin, of course. But if you suffer from rosacea, eczema, large capillaries or acne, these procedures can be problematic, and even leave your skin worse off.

“Deep skin peels using acids and abrasives and even most forms of laser resurfacing are designed to create injury to the skin in order to generate re-growth of new skin cells,” says ays skincare expert Sue Dann, the distributor for Dr. Spiller Biomimetic and Alex Cosmetics Herbal Aktiv Peel treatments. “They rely heavily on the individual body’s regenerative powers to improve the skin’s appearance, so there is always a level of unpredictability in the results."

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Sue believes she has found the answer: herbal peels.

“Instead of causing injury by blasting the top layers of skin off, as is done with microdermabrasion, herbal peels involve massaging active herbs into the skin and allowing them to slowly release vitamins, minerals and vital trace elements over 24 hours,” explains Sue.

Skin expert Sue Dann.

“In fact, the Phyto Treatment Mini Peel is so gentle that it’s safe for pregnant women or those with sensitive skin and can be repeated every fortnight."

With no visible peeling or downtime, Sue says the Phyto Treatment Mini Peel is capable of refreshing ageing, tired or problem skin in your lunch hour. “Clients are always amazed that such a gentle treatment can produce such incredible results,” says Sue. “It’s the ideal solution to revive a dull complexion for a special occasion, to settle problem skin during pregnancy or to help calm sensitivity."

As a woman who is on the other side of 35, with a history of rosacea and enlarged pores, I was eager to give the herbal peels a go. Microneedling had done a number on my skin some years ago, and microdermabrasion freaks me out.

I can tell you Sue Dan is not called "magic hands" for nothing. Instead of a brightly-lit room, with a whirring machine, I was invited to lay down in the warmth of candlelight. Sue is also a massage therapist, so this was no ordinary facial. I've had no more than three incredible massages in my life, and this was one of them. Her calming manner and soothing hands were nothing short of remarkable, as she carefully infused my face with healing herbs and vitamins.

Collagen cream.

To be honest, when I left, my skin didn't look all that different to me. But it felt sublime. Sue told me she was giving me an extra cream because she liked me. "That's quite a line," I thought to myself, but after using it for the last six months I can only conclude that Sue does indeed quite like me as my skin is firmer, smoother and softer than it's been in years. I um, actually, can't go back.

Is it the equivalent of a microdermabrasion? Hmm, maybe? But it did leave my skin feeling otherworldly - and all, without pain.